One of the important factors of the Latinx community is the amount of importance that is put onto family. Whether people identify as LGBTQ or not, Latinx families emphasize having a strong bond. However, although many prioritize family, it becomes harder for people to maintain these bonds because for some people, their identity conflicts with what the rest of the family’s values are. For many gay Latinx men, being out to their family is not an option.
Unfortunately, many gay men live a majority of their lives in secret, because they dare not jeopardize losing their family. The conflicting views of the LGBTQ community and the Latinx community often prove to be too polarizing for some men, and therefore they choose to remain in the closet. Antonio (Jay) Pastrana (2015) looks at the importance of family support amongst members of the Latinx LGBTQ community. In “Being Out to Others: The Relative Importance of Family Support, Identity and Religion for LGBT Latina/os,” he argues that Latinx men often avoid claiming that they are LGBTQ because the perception of the community comes with stereotypes that can negatively affect them. According to Pastrana (2015), “Latina/o men and women are also out to more people when they feel a connection to the LGBT community and when they believe that their sexual orientation is an important aspect of their identity” (p. 104). Pastrana’s (2015) findings also show that perceived support from family signaled more of a likelihood for people to be out. |
It is interesting to see the extent to which family plays a role in the lives of Latinx LGBTQ people. Pastrana’s study showed that for Latinx youth, coming out at an early age is not as likely as it is for white LGBTQ youth. If anything there was more of a chance that older Latinx people were out. This could be explained by several reasons. Perhaps their social setting do not offer a lot of options if things were to take a turn for the worse. Machismo also plays an important role in the lives of Latinx households, especially for the males in the house. Machismo and queerness do not necessarily coexist for the patriarchal males in this culture and therefore, some youth may wait until they are older to live their truth.
I believe that Pastrana’s take on the issues LGBTQ people face regarding coming out is much needed. Looking at family issues in the study of LGBTQ people is extremely important, especially in Latinx culture. We need to look at families and outness through an intersectional lens. This destroys the assumption that everyone faces the same exact issues when trying to come out and fully identify as LGBTQ. |